Worsfold didn’t seem overly concerned by his team’s thrashing in the contested possessions.

“Most of them were around stoppage work. They did have the dominance in that, and a lot of it came from chaining out of those stoppages,” Worsfold said.

“They were well on top there, which meant we had to defend really well behind the ball, and I was really happy with the way we set up.

“And it also meant that if we set up well behind the ball we could potentially get through them on the counter.”

Fremantle would have been back in the finals picture if they had beaten Essendon, and coach Ross Lyon was left to rue his team’s poor skills – an area that has blighted the team for the past four years.